Our Owner Interogo Foundation

Interogo Foundation, based in Liechtenstein and established in 1989, is the ultimate owner of Interogo Holding AG.

Interogo Foundation is an independent entity with a legal personality and its own governing bodies. The foundation exists for an unlimited period of time. The foundation’s ownership structure secures independence and longevity.

Background

Ingvar Kamprad (1926-2018), the creator of IKEA, had a true passion for his lifework and wished to secure the independence and longevity of the IKEA Concept, including the IKEA Trademarks.

Inter IKEA and Interogo Foundation were established during the 1980s to secure the independence and longevity of the IKEA Concept. The IKEA Concept is the core asset of Inter IKEA Group and its franchising operation. The overall purpose of Inter IKEA Group is to secure continuous improvement, development, expansion and a long life for the IKEA Concept. This will require investments in both good and bad times.

During 2016, the structure of Inter IKEA Group has changed and the business has been divided. Since then, there are two separate groups, one for the IKEA related business and one for the investment businesses. The two groups have separate holding companies: Inter IKEA Holding B.V. in the Netherlands and Interogo Holding AG in Switzerland. Both groups are owned by Interogo Foundation.

Interogo Holding’s operations aim at creating long-term value and securing financial stability, independence and longevity. And by that assure the ability to invest in the IKEA Concept in both good times and bad.

Interogo Foundation also owns Interogo Treasury AG, a treasury and asset management company with its operations in Liechtenstein.

Enterprise Foundation

Interogo Foundation is an enterprise foundation (Unternehmensstiftung) with a legal personality under Liechtenstein law. Its main purpose is to secure the independence and the longevity of the IKEA Concept, and to own and govern Inter IKEA Group.

Interogo Foundation shall also hold a reserve for rainy days, if the IKEA Concept at some time in the future were to face serious challenges.

Interogo Foundation may also make donations to certain philanthropic causes.

In simple terms, the characteristic of an enterprise foundation is that it ‘owns itself’. There is no and can never be any individual beneficiary. Funds held by the foundation can only be used for its determined purposes. Consequently, the Kamprad family neither owns nor controls Interogo Foundation. It is however intended that the family of Ingvar Kamprad, as the creator of IKEA, over generations should be offered the opportunity to be engaged in the Supervisory Council (Beirat) of Interogo Foundation, but always in minority.

Through the foundation ownership, the IKEA Concept will remain under the ultimate and undivided control of Interogo Foundation, over generations and irrespective of changes in the circumstances of individuals or family relationships. This is to avoid the fragmentation of ownership that potentially could occur if it would have been family owned or publicly listed. For these reasons, Liechtenstein Foundation law, offering a particular form of enterprise foundations (Unternehmensstiftung), was found to be best suited for the purpose for which Interogo Foundation was established.

The governance of Inter IKEA Group and Interogo Holding is ultimately guided by the purpose of Interogo Foundation.

In exercise of its shareholder rights, Interogo Foundation appoints the Supervisory Board and Management Board of Inter IKEA Holding B.V. and the Board of Directors of Interogo Holding AG at the shareholder meetings of each holding company. At the shareholder meetings Interogo Foundation also approves the Annual Accounts.

Governance of Interogo Foundation

Interogo Foundation has two governing bodies, a Foundation Council (Stiftungsrat) and a Supervisory Council (Beirat).

The Foundation Council has the full decision-making power and represents the foundation. The Foundation Council currently has three members: Johannes Burger, Per Ludvigsson and Herbert Oberhuber.

The Supervisory Council role is advisory and to appoint members of the Foundation Council. The Supervisory Council has seven seats and the Kamprad family must always be in minority.

Members of the Supervisory Council presently are: Mats Agmén, Hans Gydell, Mathias Kamprad, Birger Lund, Magnus Mandersson, Urs Wickihalder and Alfred Wiederkehr. Each outgoing member of the Supervisory Council appoints his or her successor.

Interogo Foundation is meant to be of perpetual existence even if circumstances were to change. Therefore, the statutes contain rules on how the statutory provisions relating to the structure or organisation can be changed. The goal is to secure the pursuance of Interogo Foundation’s purpose, even if circumstances change. The purpose of Interogo Foundation itself, however, can never be changed, as long as it is possible to fulfil the same. In the most unlikely scenario that it is no longer possible to pursue Interogo Foundation’s purpose, it can only be altered by a court ruling.